Cooking from a Deck of Cards

by Esther Sung

on 01/22/09 at 07:59 PM

If you're at all like me, collecting cookbooks can be a hard habit to break. Or at least a hard habit to tame, especially if shelf space is at a premium. And living in New York City, shelf space is a very precious commodity. So what's someone like me to do if there's an interesting cookbook I'd like to have but can't rationalize sacrificing more shelf space? Buy a recipe card deck instead!

Two recipe decks recently came to my attention: The Tagine Deck: 25 Recipes for Slow-Cooked Meals (Chronicle Books) by Joyce Goldstein and Seriously Simple Deck: 50 Recipes for Simply Delicious Meals (Chronicle Books) by Diane Rossen Worthington. The clever repackaging of a traditional cookbook is a godsend. True, these decks are abridged versions so they won’t include all the same recipes, and I don't get to finger the pages and gaze lovingly at large four-color photos. But what I do get are delicious cookbook recipes on durable cardstock that are a bit more stain-resistant than regular paper. And especially convenient is the fact that I don't need to turn the page to follow a recipe. It's all laid out for you, flat. And the miniature size takes up a minimal amount of space, which is key for my New York City apartment.

i made the tandoori-style chicken the other night. pretty good, it was moist and tangy - i used straus organic non-fat yogurt but next time, i might use a low-fat greek yogurt to see how that goes. thanks for the post and recipe.

but there's still nothing in my fridge except for Guinness and milk. and some yogurt. that chicken was devoured by me and friends pretty quickly.